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One Turning Points school in Boston instituted voluntary two-person
teams as a way to create more personalized and academically rich
learning for students. For the 8th grade team of Karen, who taught
English and Social Studies, and Stephanie, who taught Math and Science,
having a smaller group of students and more flexibility with scheduling
enabled them to do a better job teaching. Stephanie put it simply,
"We can give more attention to every student." Karen added, "The
kids know we're on the same page. When I taught sixth grade, the
kids had so many different teachers. It's hard for them to deal
with so many different personalities. I think it's still hard for
eighth graders."
The new structure is not without challenges. The two teachers still found
adequate planning time hard to come by, and they had to find the right
balance between meeting with the larger eighth grade team and meeting
on their own. They also found it difficult to balance preparing students
to meet state and district requirements and expectations with designing
the kind of in-depth and creative curriculum that leads to higher performance.
Still, the two teachers found more advantages than disadvantages
in the new structure, particularly in the combination of a smaller
group of students and a strong teaching partner. In the first year
with the new structure, they found many ways to connect learning
goals and reinforce similar skills and critical thinking "habits
of mind." Stephanie taught the skills of cooperative group work
in math and science, and Karen reinforced them in her humanities
classes. Next, Stephanie adopted literature circles from Karen.
How a school shapes and organizes its use of time, its allocation
of financial and other resources, and its way of grouping adults
and students, has a powerful effect on teaching and learning. Forming
small communities of learning, in which teams of teachers share
responsibility for the same group of students, helps create a school
culture that supports learning and achievement and at the same time
nurtures relationships between adults and students. Structures such
as schedules that allow for common planning time and longer blocks
of learning time, lower student-teacher ratios, and family and community
partnerships further strengthen this culture. Always, resources
of time, money, and personnel are directed towards improving teaching
and learning.
Strategies:
Learning Communities
- Foster school norms of decency, trust, and respect
- Establish small learning communities with common planning time for
faculty teams and longer blocks of learning time for students
- Ensure that students develop strong, caring relationships with adults
in the school
Grouping
- Eliminate tracking and rigid ability grouping to ensure greater equity
in learning opportunities and results
- Lower student-teacher ratios (with a goal of each teacher being responsible
for no more than 80 students)
Supporting Student Development
- Build family and community partnerships, including greater
involvement in decision making and students' learning
- Foster opportunities for students to develop character, creativity,
and health
- Provide academic support to those students who need it
- Build positive relationships among students from diverse backgrounds
Click on the links below to learn more about other Turning
Points practices.
Improving Learning, Teaching,
and Assessment for All Students
Building Leadership Capacity
and a Collaborative Culture
Data-based Inquiry and Decision Making:
How Are We Doing?
Creating a School Culture to Support High Achievement and Personal
Development
Networking with Like-minded Schools
Developing District Capacity to Support School
Change
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